The Russian government is unwilling to allow the unilateral economic sanctions imposed by Donald Trump’s government to further affect its economy and may be considering a forceful measure to combat American power in this current diplomatic war.

Vladislav Ginko

According to Vladislav Ginko, a lecturer at Moscow’s Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, the Russian government could be considering the acquisition of 470 billion dollars in Bitcoins as a way to switch part of its reserves from fiat to cryptocurrencies.

The well-respected economist states that such plan would have a staged execution given its magnitude, however, despite not having been confirmed, his estimates indicate that in this very quarter of the year, Putin’s administration would be interested in purchasing at least 10 billion dollars.

The Next Big Thing in Crypto

In a tweet responding to Chris Burniske on the problem of the low adoption of cryptocurrencies compared to other financial markets, Ginko mentioned that one of the factors that could contribute to increasing capitalization is the acquisition of tokens by governments. In that tweet, he said he expects the Russian government to invest “at least $10 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Chris, I believe sitting here in Moscow, Russia, that the real factor of Bitcoin apotion will be when Russian government I'm working for will start investing almost $470 billion reserves into Bitcoins. I expect that it'll be at least $10 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Subsequently, in response to a tweet from John McAfee criticizing the US tax system, Mr. Ginko reiterated his prediction, explaining that one of the main catalysts for this strategic move could be increased diplomatic tensions between Russia and the US along with unilateral sanctions imposed by the US to affect the Russian economy.

John, you're always welcome to Moscow 🙂 Especially since we in Russia is going to stand against US sanctions starting investing at least $10 billion of reserves into Bitcoin https://t.co/xbXakUF5Ia

Russia: Using Crypto To Win a Political War?

In a report published by the Australian news portal “Micky“, Ginko explained that although being known as “anti-crypto” the Russian government might be reconsidering its position on the use of cryptocurrency due to diplomatic pressure.

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“US sanctions may be mitigated only through Bitcoin use. Because of US sanctions, Russia’s elite is forced to dump US assets and US dollars and invest hugely into Bitcoins …The central bank of Russia sits on $466 billion of reserves and has to diversify in case there are limited opportunities to do it (in the future).”

Despite what one might think due to Russia’s “anti-crypto” image, Ginko’s statements have a higher level of credibility when one takes into consideration recent speeches by Russian President Vladimir Putin who said he was looking for alternatives to reduce the influence of the dollar:

“We have no goal of moving away from the Dollar; it’s the dollar that’s moving away from us…Because there’s instability when it comes to doing business with the dollar, gives rise to a desire – and it’s happening all around the world – to find alternative reserves currencies and create a financial system independent from the dollar.”

Ginko left on the table a possible change in the discourse of Russian politicians regarding the use of cryptocurrencies. He also commented that after Russia took a hypothetical first step, other countries will undoubtedly follow suit.

“Russia’s Government is not against cryptocurrencies; the Russian President put adoption of FinTech as a key factor for Russian economy’s survival …I believe that there is coming (in the future) when other countries will start doing that and Russia has a brilliant chance to invest into heavily oversold Bitcoin.”

So far the Russian government has not officially confirmed these statements which have been applauded and disseminated by prominent personalities of the crypto-verse such as Max Keiser, Michael Nye and Mati Greenspan.